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DELTA TWP - Township officials have tentatively agreed to buy Grand Woods Park from the city of Lansing for $600,000.

The sale of the 128-acre park off Willow Highway won't be a done deal until sometime in November, said Delta Township Supervisor Ken Fletcher, and payments will be made over a period of five years.

The park is located within Delta Township and has been part of the township's park system for three decades but is owned by the city.

Fletcher said the township plans to make payments of $120,000 a year on the property, which includes a playground, pavilion, fishing pond, nature trail along the Grand River, softball and volleyball courts, a disc golf course and radio-controlled race car track. Only 14 acres of the park are developed. The rest of the property is located on a flood plain.

The township's payments to the city would be interest free, said Delta Township Trustee Dennis Fedewa.

In June Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero said the park was appraised at between $720,000 to $730,000.

Bernero could not be reached Monday for further comment.

Grand Woods Park has been leased by the township for $1 since 1984, part of a 30-year lease agreement with Lansing that expired a year ago.

Lansing voters approved future sale of the property in November 2014. A short-term, two-year lease was established a year ago, giving officials time to negotiate the sale of the park, said Fletcher. It expires in October of 2016.

"It's fair to say that the board never had this on their radar screen," Fedewa said. "They (city officials) approached us and said they were interested in selling it."

Fletcher said Grand Woods Park is an important part of the township's park system.

"We've been maintaining the park for the past 30 years," he said. "It's certainly important to our residents. We would hate to see it sold to a developer or stay with the city of Lansing and get shut down and no longer function as a park."

Details of the sale agreement are still being discussed, but Fletcher said it will likely be complete by the end of November. Both the Lansing City Council and the Delta Township Board of Trustees will need to approve it first.

Contact Rachel Greco at (517) 528-2075 or rgreco@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @GrecoatLSJ.